The Girl with the Raven Hair
by Blood-Covered-Ivory
Summary: Twenty years after the Destiny War another vistor comes from the Mystic Moon. abandonned
1. The Girl with the Raven Hair

Disclaimer: Just so you know I'm only going to write this once. I do NOT own Escaflowne or it's characters. I DO own Nanaki and Vallen, and maybe some other characters that will appear in the future.

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Prologue:

Vallen lay on his back looking up at the stars with tears in his eyes. _Why did she have to leave me? _he thought.

Just then a blue pillar of light came down from the sky not too far away. A girl landed softly on the ground. She looked around not noticing Vallen.

"Whe… Where am I?" she asked to nobody in particular. Then all of a sudden it came to her, nobody, not even she ever knew how she knew, she just did. "Gaea" she whispered.

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Chapter One: The Girl with the Raven Hair

It is winter in the forest. A girl with raven hair and a warm white coat is walking through. Inexplicably sharp icicles keep falling behind as she walks, always a foot behind her, no more no less. It looks like a shower of icicles is following her but never hitting her.

Vallen runs up to the edge of the forest seeing "The Girl" not to far down the trail which was unusually strait for a forest trail. He had been following her for hours, naming her "The Girl" until he figured out her name. Seeing an icicle about to drop ontop of her he yells out "Hey!" as a warning.

The girl turns around, forgetting what she was doing and glares at the boy. The boy is speechless, stunned by her emerald green eyes. Remembering why he called out, and still not being able to speak, he points upwards. The girl looks up surprised at first but then realising what was happening took a step back and grabbed the huge icicle.

Vallen was surprised, _Nobody could have caught that. _he thought. Though he soon forgot about that when he saw "The Girl" practically charging at him with the icicle held in her hand like a spear.

"What is the meaning of this!" she demanded.

"I … I … I was t … trying to save you." Vallen stammered.

"What do you mean you were trying to save me!" she yelled "You're interference almost killed me!"

Her yelling no longer scared him. He was insulted that she didn't want to believe that he saved her. "What do you mean I didn't save you!" he yelled back "I warned you about the icicle, didn't I! You just don't want to believe that you could need saving sometimes!"

She was shocked, though she didn't show it. _Is he trustworthy?_ She thought. She looked into his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't be able to look away until she was finished. As soon as she was finished he dropped his eyes. _Yes I can trust him, _she thought, _but I can't tell him, not yet at least. _She warmed her expression just the slightest bit. "Well I suppose you might as well come with me, since you have been following me already."

"How… how did you know that?" asked Vallen surprised

"I …" She paused a second before continuing , it wouldn't do to tell him that she saw it in his eyes. "I knew ever since you started following me that you were there. I just wasn't sure if you were friend or foe. My name's Nanaki by the way. What's yours?"

"Vallen." he replied.

"Well, we best be on our way." said Nanaki.

"Where exactly is it that we are going?" Vallen asked innocently as they started to walk.

"To tell you the truth," Nanaki replied "I don't know myself. I just had a feeling that I should be headed in this direction."

"Oh" said Vallen confused.

"Do you know of any type of establishment in this direction?"

"I don't know," Vallen replied thoughtfully "I think maybe Fanelia."

__

Hmmm, Fanelia. thought Nanaki _That sounds familiar, but where and when have I heard that before, I just can't recall. _Out loud she said " Fanelia? Tell me about this Fanelia."

Vallen was not surprised at this, he hadn't thought that she was from around here "Well," he started "I'll start from the Destiny War. Fanelia is a country that was completely destroyed during the Destiny War, about, say 20 or so years ago. The king of Fanelia, he had just become king at the time and was only 15, fought in the battle with the help of a beautiful girl, she was the same age as him, from the Mystic Moon. 

"The Mystic Moon is one of our two moons, it's the bluish coloured one." He said seeing her confused look.

"The Earth." muttered Nanaki.

"What was that you said?"

"Oh nothing," she replied, relieved when he continued.

" She had the power of visions, she could see the future in them and therefore helped Fanelia in the battles. She and the king fell in love but after the war was over she decided to go back to the Mystic Moon. Five or so years afterwards, though, they couldn't bear to be apart any longer so by the power of their wishes she came back. They got married soon afterwards. Fanelia was pretty much already rebuilt by this time. Fanelia is now very prosperous with King Van and Queen Hitomi ruling over it."

__

Van? Hitomi? Now where have I heard those names before? Wondered Nanaki. _Oh, I wish I could remember. _"That's very interesting," she said "but why did you tell me all that?"

"Oh …" said Vallen startled "I just assumed that you didn't know it already and I thought you'd be interested."

"How did you know I didn't know it already?" she asked

"Well, for one thing, you seemed very curious about Fanelia and if you had already known you probably would've known its name. For another," He said glancing at her clothes "your clothes aren't like any I've ever seen, so I guessed you weren't from around here."

Nanaki blushed inwardly at this, she should've known this wasn't what they dressed like here and found some replacement clothes, though how and from where she did not know. 

They were silent for a long time after this giving them both a chance to think. Vallen during his thinking time found his thoughts drifting towards what he was doing before Nanaki came. It all came back in a rush, his mother … dead. 

So, what do you think? Please review and tell me. Reviews will really help me continue because even though I want to write the story, if nobody else likes it I'll probably just forget about it and not write any more of it. So please review!


	2. Dreams

A/N: Vallen's memories and dreams are like this and Nanaki's dreams are like this while things happening at the present moment will be in the normal 'black and white'.

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Chapter Two: Dreams

Nanaki noticed the sudden change in the mood of her travelling companion. Though she didn't ask why, _He'll tell me soon enough. _she thought. 

Vallen started to remember the events of that day.

Vallen was in a field awaiting the return of his mother and little sister, Alice. He was picking flowers for his sister because he knew how much she loved them.

" We should really set up camp," said Nanaki " It's really getting late."

"Huh? Oh yeah camp." Vallen replied annoyed to be knocked out of his memory. Nanaki realised that he wouldn't be of any help in the state he was in. She set out to get dry wood for a fire, wich would be very hard to find in the winter, and allowed him to go back to his memories.

Vallen looked up at the sky, _they should've been here hours ago. _He thought as he looked at the placement of the sun in the sky. 

Suddenly a man came running out to the field he looked as if he had been caught in the middle of a dog fight.

"Vallen! ::pant:: Vallen, you're mother ::wheeze:: has been ::cough:: …"

"Vallen," said Nanaki trying to get his attention "here take this blanket, I have another one in my duffle bag that I'm going to use." She was lying she had no other blanket but her coat was much warmer than his and he looked like he needed it. 

Vallen's head snapped up like he was coming out of a trance and looked around at their little camp. There was now a small fire not too far away from him and Nanaki was standing over him handing a blanket to him. He took it and smiled thankfully at Nanaki and only then did he notice her duffle bag, he didn't know why he hadn't seen it before, it wasn't big, but it wasn't small either. It was big enough that he should've noticed it. _Oh well,_ he thought and let it slide, returning to his memories.

"What!" Vallen practically screamed at the man worried because of the way he was saying it. "What has my mother 'been'? Tell me, Geki."

"Lady Celena, your mother, ::cough:: has been killed."

Vallen saw the look of truth in Geki's eyes.

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Vallen cried out in agony as he droped to his knees and started pounding the ground with his fist. "This can't be happening! This isn't happening!" Vallen stopped pounding the ground, his knuckles now red with blood. "Yes, that's it it isn't happening this is just a bad dream. Yes, a dream, a horrible ugly dream!" He looked up at Geki, his eyes filled with tears. "Please tell me this is a dream!"

Geki looked sorowfully at the boy, "I'm afraid it isn't Vallen."

::Snore:: 

"Wha?" Vallen's head again shot up coming out of his trance for the third time. He almost laughed at the sight. There was Nanaki sleeping by the fire snoreing so loudly it seemed as if she was going to put the fire out. Vallen temporarily forgot the thing that would be forever branded on his memory. He realised that she didn't have a blanket _I guess she didn't have another blanket in that 'duffle bag' of hers after all. _He thought, though he had half expected it. He took his own blanket and put it on her. She stirred in her sleep but didn't wake up. _Rest now Nanaki, girl from the mistic moon. _

Vallen went to sleep near Nanaki just outside of the blanket. His memories caught up with him in his dreams.

Vallen had already known this but still it was a blow to him. He looked down at his bloodied hand. It still held the flowers he had been picking for Alice only moments ago. They were now battered and torn. "O my god, Alice! Is she alright !?!" He almost chocked on his next words "Was she killed too?"

"No, fortunately we found her before they could harm her that badly." Responded Geki grateful that Vallen hadn't had to receive the blow of two deaths in one day.

Vallen sighed in releif "What happened? Who's 'they'?"

"Are you shure your up too hearing this?" asked Geki concerned

"I'm sure."

Nanaki tossed and turned in her sleep, horrified at what she was dreaming.

She was in a forest but it was like she wasn't there. She was simply an observer. A woman and her child were hide and go seek. The woman was counting as the child, gigling ran through the forest looking for a place to hide. The child looked no more than five. She looked sort of like Vallen. The same sandy blonde hair, the same shape in their faces, although she had a bit more baby fat. The only thing different about them, other then their age and the fact that she was a girl, was their eyes. Her's were a dark brown while his were sky blue. There was a group of three men not too far away.

Geki started explaining what happened "Raf, Hugh, and I were talking when we stopped to rest when Alice and your mother decided to play hide and seek…"

Nanaki's dream seemed to be more foccused on the woman and child and since she had no controll over what was happening she watched intently. She watched as the mother finished counting and went looking for her daughter. She watch as the mother pretended not to know where her daughter was. She watched as a group of bandits jumped out from behind a boulder…

"We heard a muffled cry, but we thought it was just Alice when your mother found her."

The banditsnd gaged the girl, hitting her when she struggled. The woman cried out for her daughter…

"We heard your mother yell 'Do what you want with me, but please don't hurt my baby!"

The bandits turned to the woman "As you wish." The leader sneered. He took out his sword.

"We got there in time to see one of the bandits thrust his sword through your mother's heart."

The woman let out a piercing scream and fell limp. _Oh, make it stop! Please let me wake up! I don't want to see any more! _Thought Nanaki.

"We charged at the bandits. It was three against five."

All of a sudden the men she had seen earlier came charging at the bandits.

"Two of them fled."

It was now even.

"We fought off the bandits."

When the bandits were either gone or dead,

"We picked up your mother's body,"

and they tried to comfort the girl as well as they could.

Vallen and Nanaki both woke up at pretty much the same time, surprised at their dreams. Though Nanaki was more surprised then Vallen. 

Nanaki looked down, temporarly forgetting her 'dream', and noticed she had a blanket. "What? How did that get there?" She wondered aloud. She then looked beside her. There sat Vallen a little dazed because of his dream/memory. Though instead of being out the covers he was under them, the way he had been for practically the whole night. He had unconsciously pulled himself under the covers to keep himself warm, but Nanaki didn't know that. She slapped him. 

"What was that for?!" he asked confused.

"What do you think it was for?" demanded Nanaki "I never told you you could put this blanket on me let alone crawl in under it with me!"

"What? I was under it? I didn't know that. I must have crawled under it in my sleep." He too had by now forgotten his dream. "And just so you know, I put the blanket over you because you looked cold. I never thought you would've yelled at me for that. Besides you lied to me. Though I don't know what as I could've expected from you."

"What is that supposed to mean!?!" she snarled

Vallen was frightened and amused at the look on her face. He couldn't help himself he burst out laughing. Nanaki was confused, but soon enough she started to laugh too.

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Yeah, I know, that was a stupid ending. I hope you enjoyed the rest though. Please review. Constructive critcism would really help me. I'd like to know if I should change anything. Well, 'til the next chapter.


	3. Remember When

A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. Three weeks! AAARRRGGG!!!!! I'll try to get one out each week, but don't be mad at me if it's two. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter (it sure took me long enough).

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Chapter 3: Remember When

"Do you have any food in that bag of yours?" Vallen asked as he restocked the fire. It was the least he could do seeing as he wasn't much help the night before. 

"As a matter of fact I do." Nanaki replied "Do you want a rice ball?"

"What's a rice ball? Nevermind if it's even slightly edible I'll eat it." Vallen hadn't eaten in a bit over a day. He'd skipped breakfast and when he got the news he had lost his appetite. So naturally, he was starving.

They're not _that _bad," Nanaki said laughing. She dug through her bag and pulled out two rice balls and a water bottle. "Here," she said passing him a rice ball "I only have one water bottle though so we're going to have to share."

"Mph" Vallen said as he was stuffing his face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. Though it came out more like "Vuts mwat uffo ooo veeb?" because she was also stuffing her face in a most 'unladylike manner', to put it lightly. She had also not eaten in a while, though for slightly different reasons. 

Vallen took one look at her and started half laughing and half coughing up all of the partially chewed 'stuff' he was about to swallow. He put out his hands to catch it all and tried to stop laughing. Nanaki had luckily finished with her rice ball so she didn't do the same thing. Vallen finally calmed himself down and shoved the contents of his hands back in his mouth. 

"Ugh" Nanaki said disgusted.

Vallen carefully chewed and swallowed before replying "What?"

"What do you think?" she said, "I just saw you spit up your food and then shove it all back in your mouth."

"Well you didn't look so good yourself. Shoving the entire rice ball in your mouth all at once."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah"

Nanaki didn't know what to say for once. (A/N: This is due to the complete lack of imagination concerning insults on my part. ^_^) Then for some reason she yelled out "Well, you're mother was killed by bandits!"

Vallen was shocked. "H how did you know that" he said as a single tear slid down his cheek.

_Yeah, how did I know that? _Nanaki silently asked herself as she went over to comfort Vallen. "I…I'm so sorry I said that," she said avoiding the question "I don't know what came over me." _It must've been the resemblance. Yes, that must be it. _She decided to wait until he had calmed down a bit before she started to explain. This took awhile and she sat there calmly whispering soothing words as Vallen cried quietly into her shoulder. 

Finally he stopped crying, sat up and wiped his eyes. Nanaki proceeded to tell her story. " Well, last night a had a dream, no, a vision of a girl and a woman playing hide and seek, when these bandits popped up from nowhere and killed the woman. Luckily some men appeared and saved the girl before the bandits could harm her. I'm not sure how recent it was though because I've never been able to tell with visions. Sometimes I don't even know if it's past or future. I guess I thought it was your mother because of the resemblance between you two, though you do look more like your sister."

" It happened yesterday."

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry, I didn't realise."

"That's okay, I understand." Vallen was speaking in a monotone voice, but then he spoke with a sudden interest, "Did you say visions?"

"Yes I did." She said relieved at his sudden change of tone. "I've had visions ever since I can remember, telling me the past and possible futures. They weren't always bad though, it's pretty much fifty/fifty between bad and good visions. But why the sudden interest?"

"Well queen Hitomi had visions when she first came here, though I'm not sure if she still gets them."

"And how do you know this?"

"Well it's common knowledge. She was one of the most important people in the Destiny War you know. Besides, I happen to know her."

"How?"

"Well, my uncle knew her, and so I met her by him introducing us."

"Who's your uncle and how do they know each other?"

"My uncle's Allen Shizar and as to how they know each other, it's a long story."

"I've got time."

"Well, actually, it's not that long. I just said it was because I don't know exactly, he never told me. I suppose they met during the war."

"What about your father? You've never mentioned him."

"He died just before Alice was born."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Five years is long enough to get over it, I suppose."

"You never get over things like that."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed

"What was his name?"

"Dryden Fassa. He was a merchant. …I remember the way he used to put me up on his shoulders and take me to work with him. I met a lot of interesting people that way. I'm sure Alice would've liked him, unfortunately she never got to meet him. I think the thing I remember most was how my parents loved each other. There was something in they're eyes when they looked at each other that said more than words ever could. It nearly killed my mother when he died, but she had me and her unborn child to think about, so she pulled through.

"But here I am telling you practically everything about me and you haven't said a word about yourself."

"We had better pack up and get going." Said Nanaki trying to avoid what he was implying.

Vallen realised what she was trying to do but he also knew that she was right. _I'll get it out of her on the way._ "You're right we'd better leave now if we want to get there by nightfall."

Nanaki threw dirt on the fire and started to put the blanket back into her bag. They started walking. They walked for what seemed like hours in silence.

Finally Nanaki broke the silence by saying; "I was adopted." This startled Vallen and as he tried to recover from shock, Nanaki continued. "You said you wanted to hear about my life so here it is. I was adopted by a nice woman named Diana Summers. She is…was the only one who believed me about my visions. I only ever had one real friend in my entire life, her name was Natasha. Funny isn't it? How our names are so similar. I grew up in a small city named Guelph, it's in a country named Canada. 

"My mother was fairly rich, which turned out to be a problem. I was spoiled rotten and didn't even know it. Everyone thought I was a snob, and I suppose I was. Natasha was the only one of my 'friends' that liked me for me, and not for my money. 

"We, Natasha and I that is, were going for a picnic when I came here. I know it's crazy to go for a picnic in the middle of winter, but we do it every year, ever since we were really little. We would build a little snow fort make some sandwiches and 'hide' in the fort for a day. We pretended all sorts of things. We were escaped convicts running from the law, we were running away from home, or we were two explorers trapped in a snowstorm in the North Pole. I guess when we got older it was hard to break the habit. So we changed it slightly and had yearly picnics instead." Throughout this entire thing, Nanaki had only half realised that she was saying it out loud and she was awakened from her reverie by cold metal being held against her throat.

Vallen looked at the scene. Nanaki had a sword at her throat, held there by some strange man in shabby clothing. Only then did he realise he had left his sword at home. He was powerless to do anything.

Nanaki quickly assessed the situation. She elbowed her attacker in the stomach. He was tempted to drop his sword to hold his hurting stomach but held his ground. He pressed his sword ever so slightly closer to her neck, just enough to draw a little blood. "Just back off boy and the lady here won't get hurt, much." He said the last part to himself so no one but Nanaki heard him. Nanaki glared at the sword that was digging slightly into her skin. To everyone's surprise, except her that is, it flew from the man's hand and sliced right into a nearby tree. Vallen trying not to show his shock inched towards the sword, his eyes still on the two. Nanaki pivoted around to face him. She glared at him and spread her arms. With that he flew against a tree, rendering him unconscious. Then and only then did she have time to see who her attacker was. 

"I…it's you." She stammered "you're the one who killed Vallen's mother."

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A/N: I decided that the bandit that killed Vallen's mother was one of the two cowardly ones that ran away. He just likes to pick on people who are weaker than he is. Anyway, what do you think should I continue? Well even if people don't think I should I'm going to whether you like it or not. So there! ^_^ Oh, and by the way, REVIEW!!!!! I'd like to hear what you think. I'll even take flames as long as you give me the reason you don't like it. 


	4. Secrets Revealed

I've posted another chapter

I've posted another chapter. Yeah! It took me a bit longer than I expected though. Sorry for the hold up. Now, on to the story.

P.S. LILYGIRL2001 there will be more of Van and Hitomi and everyone really soon, possibly in the next chapter.

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Chapter 4: Secrets Revealed

Nanaki glared at the unconscious man as Vallen rushed over to the sword. For some reason he felt that Nanaki was telling the truth. He quickly grabbed the sword and charged at his mother's murderer. His sword raised high above his head. 

"Vallen! No!" yelled Nanaki. She put her hand straight out, palm facing him. At that he fell backwards, pushed by an unseen force, and the sword fell from his hand. Nanaki unnoticeably twitched her hand and the sword came flying towards her, hilt first. She promptly caught it. "I know you're mad that he killed your mother, but that isn't the way we should deal with things. We'll bring him with us to Fanelia. He will have a fair trial and will be punished according to the judge's ruling. Now, there should be a rope in my bag. Kindly get it out and hand it to me. I will tie him up and when he wakes we will question him, but for now we will be on our way." 

Vallen rummaged through the bag as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Though actually he was scared out of his mind about what Nanaki had just shown she was capable of. He found the rope and tossed it to Nanaki. She put the sword down, caught the rope and started to bind the man's hands together. She was silently cursing herself. _Why did I have to reveal my powers to him? I didn't even tell my mother about them, so why was I so careless as to let him know? Oh well, I can't change it now. I might as well put them to good use._ Nanaki put both of her hands palms up on the ground next to the man and slowly lifted them up. The man started to rise with them. She stopped when he was floating at about waist level. She murmured some incomparable words and walk over to Vallen. The man floated along behind her. She picked up her bag and motioned for Vallen to follow her. He picked up the sword, attached it to his belt and followed her.

They walked in an awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of them knew what to say. Finally Nanaki broke the silence yet again, "I suppose you're wondering how I did that."

"I guess,"

"Well, I'm sorry but you'll never know." 

"Why?"

" 'Cause I don't know myself. It just sort of started happening when I turned ten. I didn't dare tell anyone for fear I would be branded a freak. Which would be really bad seeing as I wasn't that popular to begin with."

"I see," was all Vallen said, he didn't know quite what to say to that.

"I was using them when I first met you. Which is why I got so mad, I'm sorry by the way."

"That's okay. What were you using them for?"

"Well, I was using them to drop icicles behind me. I was bored so I was breaking them off when I walked under them so they would end up behind me. When you yelled at me I forgot what I was doing and I had already broken off a relatively big icicle. Your "warning" nearly killed me."

"So," said Nanaki changing the subject, "How much longer 'til we get to Fanelia?"

"I don't know," Vallen looked at their surroundings "a couple of hours maybe. We should be on the lookout for dragons. Most of them live around here."

"Dragons?" asked Nanaki slightly scared. Though she hid it well. "You mean they actually exist?"

"Of course they exist." He was looking at her a little strangely. He had never met anyone who thought dragons didn't exist. Then again, he had never met anyone quite like Nanaki either.

"It's just that, we don't have dragons on earth … I mean the Mystic Moon. We have legends and stories about them, of course, but we don't have any real ones. But hey, this is an entirely different planet, right?"

"Yeah, it is. Oh yeah, I was thinking of taking you to the king and queen when we get to Fanelia, if that's all right with you. I'm sure they would like to meet you, seeing as you come from the Mystic Moon. Besides I need to talk to them about something."

"It's alright with me. It will be good to see someone on this planet that actually understands about the Mystic Moon. But what do you want to talk to them…" 

Nanaki never got to finish her question because at that moment a dragon decided to appear. It was a relatively small dragon, only about twice as tall as Nanaki, (A/N: Nanaki is taller than Vallen) but terrifying none the less.

Celena's murderer chose this moment to wake up. He took one look at the dragon and let out a scream. He was so terrified he didn't even notice he was levitating. The dragon noticed his fear and quickly gobbled him up.

Nanaki stared the dragon straight in the eye and she realised something, _It's only a…_

Vallen unsheathed the sword and pushed Nanaki behind him. "Run Nanaki!" he yelled at her but she held her ground.

"No Vallen." she said calmly, "Put the sword down. Don't you see? It's only a baby." As she said this she slowly walked around him. She looked it in the eye again and Vallen could've sworn it nodded. She walked right in front of it and calmly stroked it's muzzle (A/N: Is that what you call it?), like it was just some over grown horse. "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you." She cooed "Now run along to your mother." The dragon turned and walked back the way it came.

Vallen was astounded. Never had he seen such a feat. _That's certainly a first._ He thought. "How… how did you…"

"Oh yeah, that's right, I never did tell you about that part of my powers, did I?"

"What part of your powers?"

"It seems I can read minds. Sometimes I even do it unconsciously when I first meet someone, to see what their intentions are."

"Did you read mine?"

"Actually, to tell you the truth, I did. But don't worry I didn't see anything to personal, I know how to avoid things like that. I respect other people's privacy. I simply read the dragon's mind and saw that she didn't want to hurt us. She only attacked… I just realised that we never knew his name, oh well as I was saying, she only attacked him because it saw the anger and fear in his heart. I also saw from reading her mind that she was a baby."

"Her?"

"Yes it was a baby girl."

They started to go on their way and soon, just as Nanaki was about to suggest they stop for the night, they saw a break in the trees. 

"Here we are," stated Vallen "Fanelia."

Through the trees you could a magnificent city. Though quiet because of the time, you could tell that in the day it was bursting with noise and activity. In the middle of the city was the castle, it looked like it had been taken straight out of a fairytale.

They walked through the peaceful streets towards the castle. Occasionally they met someone returning home late from work who eyed them wearily, wondering why the two of them were out so late.

When they reached the castle walls they were blocked by the guards.

"What's your business at the castle?" asked one of the guards.

"I must speak with the king and queen about some personal business." Answered Vallen

"Who is it that you are, and why would you have business with their majesties?"

"I am Lord Vallen of Asturia, son of Lord Dryden and Lady Celena Fassa, nephew of King Allen and Queen Millerna of Asturia."

"Very well, you may proceed."

When they were out of earshot of the guards Nanaki questioned Vallen "Lord Vallen, huh? I never knew you were someone important. And I never knew your uncle was a king. Why didn't you tell me?"

"'Cause I didn't want you to treat me any differently. All my life I've been hearing 'Lord Vallen sit up straight, you don't want to give the wrong impression do you? Why you're practically royalty!' 'Lord Vallen, stop goofing around. You must entertain the guests.' Lord Vallen this, Lord Vallen that! I'm sick and tired of it! Of course, mother, father Alice never called me that. At least _they _treated me normally, but they were the only ones."

"Well, you needn't have worried Vallen. I wouldn't have treated you differently and I certainly won't now."

At that point in time they heard running footsteps coming down the hallway. "Lord Vallen!!" came a high pitched voice. A blur of a figure came running around the corner, rushed right past Nanaki and tackled Vallen.

"Ah, Alonda. It's good to see you again."

Nanaki got a good look at the girl. _She's a cat!_ She realised.

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A/N: There you have it, yet another chapter. I hoped you liked it. Please review. Even though I'll continue it even if you don't, that doesn't mean I don't like getting reviews. Come on it takes two seconds.


	5. The Unexpected Meeting

The cat Alonda was a colour somewhere between dark beige and brown

A/N: I'm soooooo sorry it took me so long to get this out! I would be making up excuses right now but I'm too lazy. Which is exactly why I didn't get this out sooner. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out next week and if I can find a scanner I'll post my picture of Nanaki that I'm drawing. If any of you are interested there's some useless facts at the bottom of the page. And also, this ~***~ means that it is somewhere else. So now, on to the story.

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Chapter 5: An Unexpected Meeting

The cat Alonda was a colour somewhere between dark beige and brown. She was wearing a short orange dress with her striped tail sticking out from underneath. She looked to be about 13, 14, somewhere around there. Her hair was black with pink streaks running through it and for some reason Nanaki knew it was natural.

__

Well let's recap, she thought,_ I'm on a planet called Gaea, I found or murderer, or rather, he found me, who, consequently, was eaten by a baby dragon. I'm in a country named Fanelia on my way to meet the King and Queen, and my travelling companion, if you can call him that, is being hugged and/or "glomped" by a cat. Why should it seem at all unusual that she should have naturally black and pink hair?_ She then turned her attention to the odd pair in front of her.

"What are you doing here Vallen? How come you didn't send a message ahead saying that you were coming?" Alonda demanded.

"Well it…" He started to reply

"No matter, I'm glad you're here. Now I'll have someone to play with. You have no idea"

"Alonda." Said Vallen, trying to get her attention.

She continued anyway, "how hard it is to find someone to play with around here."

"Alonda!" he said it a little louder this time.

I wish that Lord Van and Lady Hitomi's first child hadn't gone missing. Then I might have someone my own age to play with,"

"Alonda!!"

"though she would be a couple years older then me."

"AlonDA!!!" 

"It would still be better then Ben, he's only five and he can get sooo annoying."

"ALONDA!!!" he was the one who was starting to get annoyed, and it wasn't because of Ben.

She went on as if nothing had been said, actually, I don't think she even heard him. "I wonder why they waited so long to have Ben. I suppose they were expecting their first to come back. I guess they thought if they had another child then it would be like giving up hope on ever getting her back."

"ALONDARANTEE ISOBEL LACROIX!!!!!!!"

She looked up at him, startled, and very sweetly and innocently said "Yes?"

"You haven't let me say anything yet." He said smiling, he couldn't stay mad at her for long. Indeed, I don't think anybody could, except for her mother. Her mother knew all her little tricks, she had practically invented them. "Now that you're listening," he said "Where's Van and Hitomi?"

"They're in the throne room," she replied smiling smugly, she knew she just got away with something again, "They're talking with my mom about what to do about that blue pillar of light we saw last night."

"They don't have to do anything about it Alonda," he smiled at her startled look, glad that for once _he_ was the first to know something, "may I introduce you to Nanaki." He gestured to the spot where Nanaki _used_ to be. "from the Mystic M… Hey! Where'd she go?"

~***~

Nanaki had walked off, trying to conceal her laughter. The look Alonda had given Vallen when she said that "Yes?" was priceless and since she didn't want to 'disturb' them she ran down the hall and let out her laughter. Although she was laughing on the outside, inside she was a bit hurt by their closeness. Was it…jealousy? _But I don't even like Vallen, _she thought _at least not in that way._

On her way back, she somehow managed to get herself lost. "This is just great," she thought out loud "I'm lost in a huge castle and I don't know anyone here except for some guy that I lost." 

She wandered around for awhile and for some reason she didn't see anybody, so she couldn't ask for directions. Though that wouldn't have done her any good since she didn't know where she wanted to go. After a few minutes of wandering around she went through two big doors and found herself in the throne room. Every head turned in her direction.

"Umm… Hi" she said giving a feeble wave.

~***~

"We have to find her," said Vallen 

"What do you mean _we_?" Alonda demanded "_You're_ the one who lost her."

"I didn't lose her…she lost herself. _I_ just happen to be the one who has to find her, and _you're_ going to help me."

"Give me one good reason why I should."

Vallen thought for a minute. "If you don't I'll tell all of your little friends that you still sleep with your 'Bobo'."

"Okay, okay," she said reluctantly "I'll help you find her."

"Good. Now, you go that way and I'll go this way." They ran off in different directions.

~***~

"Who are you?" demanded one of the people.

"Nanaki Summers, sir"

"What are you doing here?" asked another

"I got lost." She replied

"Dicine, Cartier, Bango, you may go now. I'd like to talk to this girl." Said the king. "There are some things that I would like to ask her."

"Yes, your highness." The three replied in unison as they got up to leave. The only people left were the king, the queen, and a cat-woman with pink hair.

"You're from the mystic moon, aren't you?" asked the queen.

"Yes I am. Just like you Hitomi."

~***~

Vallen and Alonda were running around the castle looking for her. They were checking all of the likely and most of the unlikely places that she could be. Vallen even checked the dungeon and the broom closet. Alonda, who didn't care as much whether they found her or not, was looking in crazy places like under a loose floor board and in a chamber pot. They both had an idea. They'd look in the throne room. They, unfortunately, were on opposite ends of the castle and they were both running towards the throne room. They got there at the same time and… they ran into each other. With a thump and a hiss and a yell they fell to the floor.

~***~

Meanwhile, Nanaki, Van, Hitomi, and Merle were having a discussion.

"How did you know my name?" asked Hitomi

"Well duh," replied Nanaki "You _are_ the queen of Fanelia. I heard about you from Vallen on our way here."

"You know Vallen?" asked Merle

"Yes, but I lost him." Nanaki was surprised how at ease she was with these people, especially since they were royalty.  
"What do you mean you lost him?" she asked

"Well, him and Alonda were having a 'conversation' and she gave him this look and it was so funny that I couldn't stop myself from laughing. So I ran down the hall and laughed my guts out. When I tried to find my way back, I couldn't. So I lost him." She then turned her attention to Hitomi "So, what country are you from?"

"I'm from Japan" Hitomi replied

"Really? I'm from Canada. So how can I understand you?"

"I don't exactly know. There are three languages being spoken in this room. I, myself, am speaking Japanese, you are most likely speaking English and these two are speaking Gaean. For some strange reason we can all understand each other. If you listen carefully you can hear the differences."

"Yeah I guess I can hear the differences, but it's kind of confusing so I'm just not going to think of it anymore."

"That's a good idea, I try not to think of it myself." Said Merle

Van hadn't said a thing during this so Nanaki turned to him. She did a quick scan of his mind and accidentally came across his present thoughts.

"I'm not sure you're going to figure out who I remind you of anytime soon, Van, so I suggest you join the conversation."

Van was shocked "How did you know what I was thinking about?"

"Well, I was trying to figure out your character, I had already done Hitomi and Merle's so I decided to do yours. When I do that I usually try to avoid thoughts and memories but you were thinking way to hard about it so I couldn't avoid it."

"What!?!" said all three.

"I can read thoughts," she said "it's one of my powers. One out of the two that I can control."

"What are your other powers?" asked Hitomi

"Well, I get these visions, that's the one I can't control, and, also, I can do this." As she said that she levitated the crown off the king's head, twirled it around three times and dropped it back down. "So anyway," she said, turning to Hitomi, as if nothing had happened "I would kill to have an ice-cream right about now. I don't suppose they have any around here?"

"No, unfortunately, they don't," replied Hitomi, shaking off her shock "and I know what you mean." 

Van and Merle were startled out of their shock by a big crash coming from the hall.

They rushed to the doors. "Vallen!" said Nanaki "There you are!"

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A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. It's going to get a bit more interesting in the next. I know some of the names are really weird but I made them up on the spot since I couldn't think of any names. Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome. And now for the useless fact(s):

There is actually a place called Gaea. It's just off the coast of Portugal and the natives there speak none other than Gaean.


	6. Cooking

"Get up you silly head," Nanaki said to the boy lying in front of her, "what are you doing on the floor

A/N: YAY!!!!!!!!! I actually got this out when I said I would! Hurray for me! I know they don't exactly cook in this chapter because they don't use an oven but it was the closest word I could think of for what they do. So, on to the story.

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Chapter 6: Cooking

"Get up you silly head," Nanaki said to the boy lying in front of her, "what are you doing on the floor? You interrupted us. I was just about to suggest to Hitomi that we make our own ice-cream."

"What's ice-cream?" asked Alonda getting up, pushing Vallen off of her and to the side in the process.

"Only about the greatest dessert ever made." Replied Nanaki

"Oh," said Alonda "then how come I've never heard of it?"

"Probably because it isn't made here on Gaea," responded Hitomi "it's made on the Mystic Moon."

"OK Can I help make it?"

"Sure thing!" this was Nanaki again, she then turned to Hitomi "Where's the kitchen, Hitomi? I'd like to have the ice-cream ready for after diner. That is unless you've already had diner."

"No, infact we haven't. It should be ready in an hour or two."

"That's great! I'm absolutely starving! And it will give us enough time to make the ice-cream!"

"YAY!!! ICECREAM!!!" Alonda was being extremely excited seeing as she didn't even know what ice-cream was, other than it was a desert. I guess that was enough for her.

"Come with me and I'll show you to the kitchen."

"Wait for me Hitomi!" said Merle "You're going to need someone for damage control."

"Yeah," she replied "You're probably going to control which things we damage."

"Exactly."

As they were leaving they ran into a male cat person with black hair and dark brown fur.

"Daddy!" screeched Alonda giving him a quick hug "We're going to make ice-cream!"

"Okay, pumpkin." He said giving her a confused look. 

Merle, seeing this gave him a quick peck on the mouth and said "Don't worry, Hon, I'm going as damage control," he smiled at this, "and if you have any questions ask those two, over there. I think they got the gist of what we're going to do." With that she ran to catch up with the others.

During this conversation Vallen had made his way to where Van was standing. They were both looking utterly confused. Dan (the cat-person) turned his own confused head towards them questionably.

They shook their heads and shrugged.

~*~*~

Meanwhile, Nanaki, Alonda, Hitomi, and Merle were walking down the hall.

"We're going to the small kitchen because the big one will certainly be crowded with cooks trying to get diner ready." Hitomi explained, "There isn't much difference, really, it's only slightly smaller. The only problem is that most of the food and stuff is in the big kitchen."

"That's okay, Hitomi" said Nanaki "I'll just tell you the things that we need and we can send someone to get them. I'd better not 'cause none of the cooks know me."

"I'll go!" this, of course, was Alonda

"No you won't honey, I will."

"Aww, mom," she wined "Why can't I?"

"Because you'll probably eat all of the ingredients."

"Actually," said Nanaki "she probably wouldn't. The ingredients don't really taste that good on their own."

"Well, here we are" said Hitomi "Now, what are the ingredients?"

"Hmmm, let's see. If I remember correctly we need cream, sugar…" Nanaki went on listing all of the ingredients and tools they'd need to make ice-cream.

~*~*~

An hour later the kitchen was all a big mess. There were ingredients on the walls, the floor, and the tables; there was even ice-cream globbing down from the ceiling to the floor. More than half of the ice-cream they made wasn't even in the bowl.

"Well, that was fun!" said Hitomi "But what are we going to do with this mess?"

"Allow me." Said Nanaki as she quickly cleaned up using her powers.

"Wow!" said Alonda "How did you do that?"

"Magic" Nanaki stated simply.

Hitomi turned serious "We had better go get ready for diner. I'll take this over to the cooks on our way to our rooms. I'll tell them to serve it for desert."

"Tell them to serve it with fruit. It's good with fruit. And I don't have a room." Said Nanaki.

"Oh yeah, That's right," said Hitomi "I'll show you to a guest room. I'll also lend you one of my dresses. What you have on isn't really suitable for a girl to be wearing on Gaea and the advisors would think you very strange."

"Okay." With that they all left to get cleaned up.

~*~*~

Nanaki's room was huge. She thought it was just a bit bigger than her room at home. Her mother _was _rich. The room had a big closet and a desk with a mirror in front of it to the right of the room. There was a small bathroom to the left and at the back was a huge window that led to a small balcony. The bed was just beside that to the left. It was a big four poster bed and it made Nanaki want to fall into the mattress though the thought of food made her keep herself from doing just that.

"Go and take a bath to get some of that ice-cream out of your hair and I'll go and get that dress I promised you" said Hitomi once she had shown Nanaki to her room.

"Okay" said Nanaki gratefully and headed towards the bathroom. She really needed a bath, for she smelt like week-old sweat, and it proved just the thing to help her unwind. When she got out she noticed a dress on the bed and also shoes beside it. She had been so busy relaxing that she hadn't even heard Hitomi come in.

She put on the dress and shoes. The dress was pale green and it contrasted with her hair, which, actualy, made it look really good on her. It had thick straps that went around the outside of her shoulders rather than over them, it went all the way to the ground and luckily it wasn't pouffy. She hated pouffy dresses. There was a silk scarf that she draped over her elbows so it ran loosely behind her back. She sat down at the desk and was wondering how she should do her hair when three maids came in.

"We're here to do your hair and makeup" one of them said. So Nanaki sat back and let them do their job.

When they were done she had on some light blush, some pale green eyeshadow, and a touch of lipstick on. Her hair was piled on top of her head with a pale green flower stuck into it. This arrangement showed off her slender neck. She looked in the drawers of the desk and found some emerald earrings. She put those in and they dangled down. For the final touch she searched through the clothes that were laying heaped on the floor for her pendant. She never went anywhere without it. Finally she found it and fastened it to her neck. The teardrop pendant glistened in the light.

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A/N: I'm sorry this chapter's so short. I had to stop there if I wanted to get this up on time. And I did, for once, get it up when I said I would. The diner is going to be in the next chapter. Please review! I love reviews!

P.S. Rudee, how come you "remember ff7" when you say Nanaki? Is there someone named Nanaki in it? And here I was thinking I made the name up.


	7. Eat, Drink, and be Merry

A/N: Sorry I took so long getting this up

A/N: I just remembered that I forgot to mention how Van, Hitomi, and Merle look like now. So you don't get confused I'll tell you now and sometime later I'll go and change it within the chapters before this one. To say it briefly: Van has a beard, Hitomi has hair that goes down to the middle of her back, Merle has hair that goes to her knees and they all look older. Sorry, by the way, that I took so long getting this chapter up. I had a bit of writers block and plus I couldn't seem to find the time to write anyway. But I doubt you want to hear my excuses, so on to the story.

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Chapter 7: Eat, Drink, and be Merry

Nanaki, finished getting ready, now stared out the window. _Spring came really fast_ she thought to herself as she looked across the green land. Indeed it had, it had sneaked up on the people of Fanelia almost without warning, though they were used to short winters and fast coming springs. A few birds twittered their conversations outside.

Nanaki had just realised that she was expected to be in the dinning hall in a few minutes and didn't know where it was, when a knock came at her door. She walked over and opened it to none other than Vallen. He was wearing a shirt and pants much like he usually wore except much fancier.

"I'm supposed to 'escort' you to the dinning hall." He explained sheepishly

"Oh, o.k." Nanaki didn't look too happy about this, but secretly she was relieved. She didn't want to be late because didn't know where the dinning hall was.

"Van and Hitomi have ordered that tonight's dinner be turned into a ball for all the court lords and ladies in honour of their guests, namely us" he continued "So they thought it would make sense if we arrived together."

Nanaki ignored this last part and said "What do you mean there's a ball just for us!?! They really didn't have to! It's a good thing I grew up in a rich family or I'd be seriously in trouble. But what if Fanelian customs are different then the ones I learned? What will I do then?! I'll probably make a big fool of myself in front of all those people! Do I look all right? How's my hair? Oh, I really want to make a good impression."

Vallen quickly took this all in and made his reply "Yes they did have to, it's their custom to have a ball in honour of important guests when they arrive. I doubt Fanelian customs are much different, if at all and as long as you don't act all jittery and nervous the whole time I'm sure you won't make a fool of yourself. You look fine, your hair's perfect, and even though I don't know why it's such a big deal for you to make a good impression, I'm sure you will as long as you be yourself."

"Thanks, Vallen" she said looking shocked, "I don't know what got into me." She thought for a moment about what he said, "And you don't look so bad yourself." She said as they turned the corner into the dining hall. He blushed, and she smiled briefly at him before it got buried with all the other little things that showed emotion. She rarely, if ever, showed how she truly felt about anything. Though she was beginning to forget to do that here. She was showing her emotions, more and more often around these people that she just met.

As they entered the dining room all eyes were on them. Nanaki allowed herself to be led by Vallen to a seat on the right hand side of the three chairs that were obviously made for Van, Hitomi, and Ben. The chairs were empty because they were to arrive last, as was the custom. Merle, Dan, and Alonda were sitting on the other side of the table, to the left of the chairs. Alonda was wearing a baby blue dress with a V-neck and had no sleeves. It went down to the floor and had a slit in the back for her tail. She was wearing dark blue shoes and her shoulder-length hair was down. She was also wearing a diamond necklace and diamond stud earrings. Her mother was wearing much the same thing except her dress was yellow, had long sleeves, and she wasn't wearing any jewellery. Dan on the other hand was wearing clothes like the ones Vallen was wearing, except his were green, not blue.

Nanaki had just settled in her seat when the Royal Family was announced. Everyone in the room rised from their seats for the Royal Family, and only when they had sat down did the rest of the court sit. Hitomi was wearing a deep green dress with sleeves that were white and had only backs to them, not fronts. The sleeves had a ring of pearls at each shoulder, attaching them to the dress and another at each wrist to attach them there. The dress had a V-neck, as all other women in the room's dresses were straight, hers was puffed out from the waist down. She wore a pearl necklace and dangling pearl earrings. She wore white shoes that held a greenish tinge. Her hair was piled up on top of her head with two strands curving around her heart-shaped face. Van was wearing clothes that again looked like those that Vallen had on, though his were much more elaborate. They were red with gold designs. Nanaki looked at Ben for a bit longer then she had the others, for this was the first time she had seen him. He looked almost the exact replica of his mother, except for the fact that he was male and that the emerald green of his eyes had a reddish tinge to them. He wore clothes that were like miniatures of his father's, except for the fact that his were purple with silver designs.

Van got up from his seat and started to address the people in the hall "People of the court, I would like to introduce to you, our guests for this evening. May I introduce to you, Lord Vallen Fassa of Asturia, whom I believe most of you have already met, and Lady Nanaki Summers of the Mystic Moon." At this all of the people in the hall started to murmur in interest. Though they no longer believed the Mystic Moon was cursed, they hadn't thought that anyone else would come from there. They had thought that Hitomi would be the only one.

Nanaki got all this from the snippets of thought and conversation she got. It made her both angry and nervous to know that everyone in this room was talking about her and were shocked by her.

Van had already sat down so Nanaki decided to stand up. "Would you all stop seeming so shocked!?" she demanded "Yes, I'm from the Mystic Moon. Big deal! It's not like you haven't seen anyone from there before. Your own Queen is from there. What made you think she would be the only one to come here from there? Sure, I guess you think she's special because she's your queen and all, but she wasn't your queen when she came. I don't see why you acted so shocked when you heard I came from there too." When she finished her speech she took a deep breath and sat down.

To her right she heard a man's voice say "Jeez! What's her problem?" that made her stand up again. She glared at the man to whom the voice belonged and said, "What's my problem? What's my problem! My problem is that I was really nervous to begin with and it doesn't help to know that everyone in the room is talking about me!" she took a deep breath, calmed down, and apologised "I'm sorry, like I said, I was nervous and I always tend to have a quick temper when I'm nervous. Please don't judge me by that." She looked around at all the shocked faces and a realisation dawned on her. She turned to Vallen "He didn't say anything out loud, did he?" Vallen just shook his head. Nanaki then turned to Lord Wyldon, the man she had yelled at, "Mister, your thoughts are way too loud." She said as she sat down. Seeing all the shocked expressions remained on the faces she turned to Van. "Van," she said (the people were even more shocked that she hadn't used his proper title), "would you please explain? I'm tired of explaining it."

Van explained to the court people about Nanaki's powers. When he finished most of the people of the court looked at her in awe but didn't dare say a thing, for Nanaki looked greatly frustrated. The girl to her right had a different idea in mind and introduced herself to Nanaki. 

"Hi, my name's Keladry. I'm Dicine's daughter. I believe you saw her when you went into the throne room. She told me a strange girl with weird clothes came in and The King dismissed her, Bango, and Cartier. You might have seen her on her way out."

Nanaki searched her memory and faintly remembered the woman smiling at her curiously as she left the throne room. "Yes," she said, "I remember her. She seemed nice." After a quick scan of Keladry's mind she found that the girl had no intentions of treating her differently because of her powers. Nanaki was glad about this for she liked the girl. The started talking about normal things (at least, they were normal on Gaea) and became fast friends.

The rest of the dinner was pretty much uneventful, except for when Nanaki floated some of the platters of food over to her when no one noticed her asking them to pass it. Then came dessert.

As the servants passed out the ice cream the people of the court looked disgusted at the mush. They didn't know what to make of the cold lumpy stuff. Each person had a of ice-cream bowl in front of them and there was a bowl of fruit in the middle of the table and also a big bowl of ice-cream beside that in case anyone wanted seconds. Nanaki, Hitomi, Alonda and Merle were the only ones eating it (Alonda and Merle had found out it tasted good while making it). When Hitomi noticed this she explained what it was. "This is called ice-cream." she explained, "It's a dessert served on the Mystic Moon and is actually quite good. You can add some fruit to it if you want, to give it more flavour." She then continued to eat her dessert.

When Nanaki had finished Keladry asked her a question, and it was just loud enough for everyone to hear, "How did you and Vallen meet up in your travels?"

Everyone turned his or her attention to her. "Well, you see, he almost killed me." There were a lot of "What!" 's, "Lord Vallen did that?" 's, and "How" 's scattered amongst the shocked faces. Hearing and seeing this Nanaki smiled to herself, she had gotten just the reaction she was looking for. "He didn't do it on purpose of course." She explained and continued to tell the story about how she had been so bored that she was using her powers to drop icicles behind her. She told them about how, when she had just made an icicle drop, Vallen had startled her making her forget about the icicle that was now falling straight at her head. She told them how he had pointed upwards just in time for her to look up, remember what she had done, take a step back and catch the icicle. She then explained how she had charged up to Vallen, icicle in hand, and how, after a while, she had suggested that he travel with her rather then just following her at a distance as he had been doing.

When Nanaki finished she looked around at the people's faces and noticed that some of them hadn't understood. She sighed and said, "I suppose we could act it out. What do you say Vallen?"

Vallen reluctantly agreed. "But we need and icicle. " he said trying to get out of it.

"We'll just have to get a make-shift one" replied Nanaki looking around the room. Finally she came up with an idea. "Is anyone finished with their ice-cream?" she asked. When everyone shoved their untouched bowls at her she said "You at least have to try it." And went to each person and made sure they each took a bite. Most of them finished the whole bowl when they had finished that first bite but others said they didn't like it. Prince Ben was the only one who wanted seconds though, so Nanaki filled his bowl and took half of the remaining ice cream to make her icicle. She fashioned it in the air to look like a real icicle and put it about as high as the real one had been.

"Hold on to your bowls everyone," she told the people "I'm going to push the table to the side so we have more room to act this out. Everyone obliged and she magically pushed the table to the other side of the room. "Vallen," she said so only he could hear "go to the other side and when I drop the 'icicle' you yell 'hey' and when I spin around point up and it goes on like it did before. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" he replied with a little fake salute.

Nanaki waited until he was where he was supposed to be then walked under the "icicle" and dropped it. Vallen yelled out "Hey!" from the other side of the room a little to late, which made him point up a little later. So, when he did so Nanaki saw the ice-cream icicle only inches from her face. She was unable to react in time so she got a face-full of ice cream. She looked down at her now ruined dress and then glared at Vallen "Oh, I'm going to get you for that!"

Vallen had meant for that to happen and was bending over laughing. He was so busy doing that that he didn't notice when Nanaki ran over to the remaining ice cream took it magically out of the bowl formed it into a ball and threw it at Vallen's head.

After that it was an all-out war. The people at the table soon became involved and they had and ice cream ball fight. It was girls against guys. Finally, after the girls pulverised the guys (they did have an unfair advantage, the ice-cream balls the guys ducked seemed to almost always turn around in mid-air and hit them in the butts) Nanaki magically sucked the ice-cream from their clothes and off the floors and walls, and pretty much everywhere and put it back in the bowl. She also fixed everyone's clothes and hair so that they looked presentable again.

"It's time to go to the ballroom for the next portion of the ball." Van said and led them into the next room.

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A/N: So how'd you like this chapter? Review and tell me. It was longer than I thought it would be. In the next chapter there will be dancing and the like and all of the stuff that happens in the ballroom. It has some things in it that are important to the story line so watch out for that. If I don't have another chapter up next Friday then you can expect there to be a long time before I get it up because I'm going on vacation after that. I'll try to write my story while on vacation so I can post it when I get back but I'm not making any promises. 


	8. Dance With Me

A/N: Yeah

A/N: Yeah! I finally got this up. Sorry for the delay but I was on vacation and then ff.net wasn't working. I hope you like the chapter. Please R&R.

P.S. The reason Nanaki says (thinks) "sensei" instead of "teacher", even though she's Canadian, in this chapter will be explained in the next.

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Chapter 8: Dance With Me

Nanaki quickly took in the ballroom as she walked through the door. It was about twice the size of the dinning hall and had some chairs and tables with some sort of punch on them for dancers (and wallflowers) to rest at one side of the room. She made her way over there. 

At the other side of the room there was a small orchestra, if you can call any size orchestra "small". The said orchestra struck up a tune and couples began to file out onto the dance floor. 

Nanaki's new friend, Keladry, was among those couples, having been asked to dance by a rather handsome young ambassador. Vallen and Alonda were also of those couples dancing; a sight which gave Nanaki another pang of which she could now admit, was jealousy. 

__

This is what I get for letting my emotions show, isn't it? Thought Nanaki _More of them to deal with. I should've listened to sensei._

She contented herself with talking to the blonde man sitting at the table next to her.

~***~

From his spot on the dance floor, Vallen noticed Nanaki talking to Arch (actually it's "Archibald", but who in his right mind would allow himself to be called that?). The sight made him feel… funny, so he excused himself as soon as the song was over.

"Cousin! I didn't realise you were here!"

"Vallen, it's good to see you." Nanaki could see that Vallen had purposefully interrupted their conversation. "Father sent me up about a week ago for a visit." Arch continued, "He would've come himself but he's been very busy."

"How come I didn't see you at the table?"

"Well, I requested to be put near the back because everyone nearly always looks at the front and I've gotten tired of being looked at all the time."

"Good point."

"Wait a second!" said Nanaki as a sort of delayed reaction "Cousin? If you're his cousin then you must be a…"

"Prince?" Arch finished her sentence for her "Yes, I am."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He shrugged "I thought you knew."

"Oh, yes," she said sarcastically, "I know who everybody is and what everybody looks like 'cause I've been here for years and years. Wait a second! No I haven't! I just got to this stupid planet a couple days ago."

"Got to this planet?" he said shocked, "You mean _you're_ the one from the Mystic Moon?"

"Yes"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged, mimicking him "I thought you knew."

They all laughed, including Vallen.

"I mean," she said when she had stopped "I was introduced, yelled a whole lot, sat near the head of the table, made ice cream float, and had said ice cream drop on me. How could you not know who I was?"

"I wasn't paying attention?"

Nanaki laughed.

"Well," said Vallen after a pause "since the conversation seems to have ended…" he turned to Nanaki "May I have the pleasure of this dance?" he asked as the orchestra started up a waltz.

"I… I can't!" said Nanaki shocked

"Sure you can!" said Vallen a little hurt

"No, I mean, I can't, really. I don't know how to dance."

Vallen was taken aback, he hadn't thought of that. He had taken it for granted that she did. "Well then, I'll just have to teach you, won't I?" he said offering her his hand. She took it and they headed out to the dance floor.

"Okay," said Vallen, starting to explain, "You put your hand on my shoulder here," he placed her right hand on his shoulder "and I put my hand on your waist here," he put his left hand on her waist "and we hold hands on the other side, see?"

"Umm… yeah, I guess…" came Nanaki's reply.

"Now, this is a waltz," he said, referring to the music, "In a waltz there is an easy to follow pattern. Listen. There is a distinctive down beat, the louder one, and then two little 'catch up' beats. Do you hear it?" Nanaki shook her head "Well then, I'll say it along with the beat" after listening to the music for a little bit he started, "ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three, ONE, two, three. Do you hear it now?"

"Yes" said Nanaki, and added in her mind _I think so._

"The steps are pretty easy once you find the beat. You take a big step at the "one" and two little catch up steps at the "two" and "three". Got it?"

"Uh huh" she said nervously

"Now when we turn," he continued, "we turn towards our hands that our being held, but you don't really have to worry about that too much because all you have to do is follow my lead. Are you ready to try it? I'll say the beat out loud for you until you get the hang of it, if you want."

"That'd be nice" and they started dancing.

They were doing pretty good, except, of course, for the fact that every few steps, Nanaki would step on Vallen's toes, which would cause him to bump into somebody. Nanaki was so embarrassed by this that she couldn't concentrate, which made her make even more mistakes.

After a while Nanaki got so fed up that she was about to yell, "Screw this!" and go sit down. But then, she had an idea.

~***~

At first Vallen didn't realise what was happening. He was to intent on counting, and encouraging Nanaki that he didn't realise what she had done. But then he looked down.

They were flying! Well, actually, it was more like floating. They were about half way between the heads of the people bellow, and the ceiling. The ceiling was pretty high, so they were about 7 or 8 feet above them.

Vallen looked at Nanaki surprised. She laughed and said "I was getting tired of bumping into people so I moved us to a place where we wouldn't."

He smiled, nodded and said "That's fine, but there's only one problem."

"Oh? And what might that be?" she smiled

He laughed "Everyone bellow can see up your dress!"

She blushed "I hadn't thought of that. Oh well, it can be fixed." She concentrated hard. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep them from falling, learn to dance, and do what she was about to do, all at the same time. She had hardly ever used her powers before, and she wasn't sure how much she could do at a time. _Oh well, _she thought, _I might as well find out._

She concentrated hard on every drop of moisture in the room. She took all she could find, in every place she could think of, and formed it into a cloud beneath their feet.

"There" she said "That fixes that problem. So, where were we?"

"Oh yeah. ONE two three ONE two three…"

Nanaki caught on quickly without having to worry about bumping into people, and soon they were going on to more difficult things. Okay, so it wasn't exactly that difficult, just a few twirls and things like that, but she was having fun. Nanaki found after a while that she didn't have to concentrate on the cloud or the floating, she did it subconsciously, so she enjoyed herself more not having to worry about it.

As the song slowed down Nanaki subconsciously brought them towards the ground and they landed just as the song ended. The crowd erupted into cheers and Nanaki turned to see they had had an audience. She blushed. She hadn't even thought about people watching her when she was dancing, though in the back of her mind, she knew they must have. She gave a little curtsy and walked back to the chairs.

She had just sat down when Ben walked over to her. "Nanaki," he said, "Will you dance with me?"

She smiled down at him "Sure, how can I refuse an offer to dance with a prince?"

Arch happened to overhear "Well then, will you give me the pleasure of the next dance?"

She blushed "Ok" and headed out to the dance floor with Ben. "You can't expect what I did before," she told him "I'm a bit to tired for that."

"That's ok" he replied and they started to dance.

Dancing was awkward because of the fact that Ben was so much shorter than she was, but somehow they made it work.

"You dance really well for someone as young as you are. I just learned how a few minutes ago."

"Really? You looked as if you'd been doing it for years to me. And I had to learn how to dance because of all these balls we throw for guests."

"You didn't see me on the ground, I was bumping into people right and left. I had to get into the air so I wouldn't do that."

Ben giggled.

"So, what's it like to be part of a 'Royal Family'?"

"Well, I don't really know the difference because I've never lived any other way. If you want to know that, ask my mom."

"That sounds good, I'll do that."

"That's a pretty necklace."

"Thank you, I've had it ever since I can remember."

"It looks familiar. I think I've seen it before, but I'm not sure where exactly."

"I doubt you've seen this one exactly, I've had since before you were born and this is the first time I've been here. You might have seen one like it though."

"Yeah, that's probably it."

The song ended and Nanaki walked back to where Arch was talking to Vallen. She sat down next to them and had a glass of punch.

"So how's your sister?" asked Arch

"She's fine." Said Vallen, "She has started her studies just recently and her tutors say she's doing well."

"That's good. And your mother?"

"Well…. Ahh…she…" Nanaki could see he didn't want to talk about it just yet.

"I thought you said you were going to dance with me Arch." She interrupted

"Oh yes, shall we?" 

As they headed back out onto the dance floor Nanaki called back to Vallen "Thanks for teaching me to dance, Vallen!" and then she was lost in the crowd.

~***~

As Arch and Nanaki were dancing Keladry sat by a dismal Vallen.

"What's wrong, 'Len?"

"It's nothing Kel, nothing at all."

"Then why such the long face."

"No reason."

"There's always a reason."

"Yeah, I guess, but I'd rather not talk about it." He stared off in the direction of the dance floor.

"Ok, fine. So, how's the punch?" she said referring to the drink in his hand. When he didn't answer she waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello! Gaea to Vallen. Come in Vallen."

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah, the punch is ok." He went back to staring.

"Hmmmm…" Keladry said and followed his gaze to a couple on the dance floor.

~***~

"So, how are you liking it here on Gaea?" asked Arch

"It's nice," Replied Nanaki "A whole lot different than it is on the Mystic Moon, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, there isn't as much pollution and junk, and I'm liking the people more."

"Weren't there any good people on the Mystic Moon?"

"I'm sure there are, I just didn't have the luck of meeting much of them."

"Who were the good people that you did happen to meet?"

"Well, there's my mom for one, and my best friend Natalie, and of course sensei and Mr. Robertson."

"Well, my mom's really nice and she spends every minute she can with me. Of course, that isn't much 'cause she has that business of hers. She's the creator of Sunshine Inc." seeing his puzzled look she said "Don't ask. Natalie was there for me from the start. She's defended me when the others pick on me and has always been there when I needed her the most. Sensei's strict when it comes too…" but she never got to finish her sentence.

~***~

Vallen noticed that Nanaki had suddenly blanked out and was staring out into space with a horrified expression on her face. He quickly got up and ran to her side. "Nanaki! What's wrong!?!"

~***~

Nanaki saw flashes of things she didn't quite understand:

A younger Van flying on what seemed to be a metallic dragon.

Another figure flying on that same dragon, yet shrouded in mist.

Another flash of Van on the dragon, but this time with Hitomi in his arms.

Two figures on the dragon, yet again shrouded in mist.

A war going on between millions of people and machines.

Another similar war yet decades later.

Van, flying with his wings.

The shrouded figure with wings exactly like his.

A boy with silver hair and a scar on his right cheek.

The maniacal laughter of the boy played constantly through it all.

~***~

Nanaki had subconsciously walked up to Van, Hitomi, and Ben during her vision. Vallen, Arch, and Keladry had followed, anxious to see what would happen.

"There will be another battle." She said to Hitomi, still in her trance. She turned to Van "There will be another war." She turned to Ben "The heir of the dragon will take his place." She turned to her rapidly growing audience. "Will history repeat?"

Nanaki snapped out of her reverie. She let out a gasp and crumpled to the floor.

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A/N: So, do you like? Oh yeah, just so you know, this whole story is basically a rough draft. When I'm done I'm going to go back and revise it, unless of course, something comes up. Anywho, REVIEW! Ok? Please? I'd love to hear what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

P.S. This chapter was posted as a birthday present to… ME! I'm now officially 14! ::Sings:: Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birth… ::Gets stopped by a rotten tomato landing in her face:: Ok, so you don't like my singing. Oh well. Anyways, I'll hopefully get the next chapter out soon.


	9. Training

A/N: Wow 

A/N: Wow! I haven't written in a _really_ long time. About 3 months! Sheesh! I should've made time to write this, but I haven't. Remember that things in red are Nanaki's dreams. Well, here goes.

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Chapter 9: Training

Vallen raced over to the spot where Nanaki had fallen. "Nanaki!" he practically screamed, "Nanaki wake up! Don't die like she did!"

"Shhhhh," said Hitomi calmly, "She's just a little tired. I always fainted after my visions."

Vallen looked up at her and nodded slowly. "Let's get her to her room."

Nanaki was waiting, ready to attack. She watched her opponent come forward. She struck; her staff was quickly countered and knocked out of her hands by his. 

"Nice try Summers."

Vallen carried Nanaki to her room and placed her gently on the bed. Hitomi, Van, Merle, Alonda, Dan, and Arch followed. Ben was in his mother's arms. Vallen looked up, shocked to see them all standing there.

"This news has been very disturbing," said Van, "Though it is hard to tell when what was seen in a vision is to take place, this one seems like there isn't much time to waste. And, as much as I hate to admit it, Ben will have to start training for battle."

"It still wasn't good enough, Sensei." She replied.

"That's because you broke concentration Summers. Don't show your emotions, concentrate."

"Yes Sensei."

Hitomi hugged him to her chest, "But he's just a baby!"

"Yes, but would you rather our baby be able to defend himself or not?"

Hitomi put him down. Ben looked up at his father with a fierce determination in his eyes, "I will do what is needed to protect our country."

Nanaki watched as the face of her sensei moulded into that of Mr. Robertson. She looked at his hands; he was holding a fencing sword. She looked at hers, so was she. He charged at her, she blocked his strike and went through the familiar motions of offensive and defensive moves.

The sound of those words coming from her little boy's mouth made Hitomi burst into tears. Ben looked up at his mother shocked. What had he done wrong? He tugged at the end of her dress. "I'm sorry mamma." 

Hitomi stopped herself and sent a forced smile towards her little boy. "It's not your fault honey."

It went like that for a while until Mr. Robertson eventually knocked her sword from her hand. "That was good Summers, you're getting better. You might even win next time."

Hitomi realised something suddenly, "Vallen, when Nanaki fainted, you said 'don't die like she did', what did you mean by that?"

Vallen sighed, it was time to tell them, "My mother was killed by bandits recently." Everybody gasped, "Nanaki was attacked by the leader but she managed to detain him. We were bringing him here for a trial but a young dragon ate him. At least he got what he deserved."

"Oh, Vallen, I'm so sorry. Your mother was a good woman." 

"Poor aunt Celena, I never saw it coming." 

"We will go to the funeral when it is to take place." 

"We'll put our plans on hold to pay our respects to our dear friend." 

"She was such a nice lady." 

"I can't believe she's gone." 

"If the dragon hadn't eaten him, I'd have killed that bad man myself. He was a meanie." 

(A/N: I'm having a contest to see who can guess correctly who said what. The winner will have my next chapter dedicated to them.)

"Oh!" Vallen said, "I forgot I hadn't told anyone I was leaving! With my mother's death they're probably expecting the worst! And poor Alice! She has no-one to comfort her except Geki!"

It was suddenly pitch black and Nanaki was flying towards a light. She could see some figures in the window that the light was shining through. The things she had just experienced were things of the past. It was time to return to the present. Nanaki's eyes fluttered open as she regained consciousness.

Nanaki opened her eyes and looked around the room. _Where am I? _She thought. She looked over to some figures discussing and recognition could be seen in her eyes. She remembered it all now, from the pillar of light all the way to the ball. Only, there was a gap in her memory from when she was dancing with Arch to where she was now.

"Wha... what happened?" she asked groggily.

All eyes turned to her. "You had a vision and fainted." Said Hitomi gently, "Do you remember anything about it?"

Nanaki thought for a moment, trying hard to remember. "No," she admitted finally, "It must've been a big one then. When they're important, they get erased from my memory. What did I say?"

Van answered her question for her, "You said there would be another war and that 'the heir of the dragon will take his place.' Do you know what this means?"

"No sir."

"I was the dragon in the last war. It means that my son will take my place in the next. We are going to begin preparing for war immediately and my boy will have to train."

"May I train too?"

Van smiled "What do you know about combat, girl?"

Nanaki didn't take this to heart, she new he was only worried about her safety. "Why don't you meet me in the training area and I'll show you." She smiled and shooed everyone out of the room so she could change. Even though she had got better since that lesson long ago, she certainly couldn't fight in a dress.

~***~

Five minutes later Nanaki showed up in the training area wearing a T-shirt and some loose fitting jeans. Jeans weren't the best things to fight in but it was all she could find.

She was surprised to see Van standing there with two swords in his hands. She had expected him to ask a less experienced swordsman to fight her. She supposed he thought that it would be safer if he himself duelled her, or what was it called again? Oh yeah, sparring. He tossed her a sword, which she caught nimbly. It was a little heavier then what she was used to, but she'd manage. It wasn't like she had much choice in the matter.

"So," she asked, "what are the rules?"

"First one to draw blood from the other wins, or if the other admits defeat. Oh, and you can't use your powers to summon your sword if I knock it out of your hands."

"Sounds fair," she said, "I never much liked to mix combat and my powers."

They both took a stance. Van started by charging towards her, sword above his head. She easily blocked it with her own and forced him back. She could tell he wasn't going to go easy on her. She went at him with a crescent-shaped cut, which he blocked. He took advantage of her position to try to cut her hand. She dodged just in time and tried the same thing on him, naturally she failed.

Ben had finally been able to sneak away from his mother. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with him before his training started and he had been feeling suffocated. He headed down towards the entrance to the castle, wanting to go see his friends in the city, when he heard sounds of clanging metal and shouts coming from the training area. He walked over too it and went in. There was a huge crowd surrounding to fighters. The people in the crowd were busy making bets on who would win. Ben pushed his way through the crowd, wanting to see who was fighting. It wasn't until he saw them that he remembered; it was his father and Nanaki! They both had a determination in their eyes to win and also the enjoyment of a match that wasn't to end in death. As he watched the two fight, a realisation dawned on him…

They had been going at it for an hour now and the heavier sword was taking its toll on Nanaki. She was attacking less and less and barely being able to able to block the blows that Van dealt her. Her arms felt like they were on fire, but she wasn't about to give up. She drew up all the energy she could spare and put it all into one sweeping blow. She missed, and as she started to regain her position, Van made a shallow cut from the top of her right shoulder blade to her collarbone. Nanaki admitted defeat and dropped her sword. The crowed erupt in cheers, and some groans for those who bet against their king. Van smiled and dropped his sword also. He held his hand and she shook it. 

"Good match." She said.

"Best match I've had in years," he replied, "I never thought you'd have this much skill, I…" he stopped when he saw the light glint off of something on the floor. He bent down and picked it up. Nanaki saw her pendant in his hand and gasped, he must've cut the chain when he cut her. She tried to snatch it away from him. 

"That's mine." She said.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, his eyes cold.

"I've had it ever since I was born." She replied, "Please sir, can I have it back?"

His eyes searched hers, and even though she knew he didn't have the same power as her, she felt naked and vulnerable under that gaze. "Very well then." He handed over her pendant. She took it and went to bandage her cut.

As she left, the king stood there, watching her, a question in his eyes.

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A/N: So, what did you think? Have I lost my touch in this long time I've been away? Review and tell me. Oh, and if anyone could send me a picture of one of the scenes in this story, from previous chapters or ones still to come, I would highly appreciate it. I would especially like one of Nanaki and Van fighting. Oh, and remember, I'm having a contest to see who can guess who said what to Vallen when he told them about Celena.


	10. Decisions

A/N: LOOKIT!!!!!!!! I'M NOT DEAD!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! OK, I know I haven't updated this in over a year, and I'm very sorry. I don't have a good excuse (well, not a good excuse that's true) but I'm very sorry. I bet you thought I had abandoned this. Well, if any of the people who were reading this before are still reading it. Anyways, I'd better get to that story, now shouldn't I? Well, here we go…

Oh, and by the way, this chapter is dedicated to Amieva, who guessed correctly on who said what. (If you don't understand what I mean, see previous chapter.)

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Chapter 10: Decisions

Nanaki went to the healer's to get a bandage for her shoulder. The cut wasn't that deep, but it still stung a little. She looked at her broken necklace and put the two severed ends together. After a short while of concentration, they melted together. There was only a slight bulge where the two ends met. She then slipped the necklace back to the rightful place on her neck.

She started to think about the up coming war. She was thinking how that almost every single man would be fighting for Fanelia in this war. And how the women would be vulnerable to attacks or raids. This, of course, gave her an idea. But first, she was going to have a bath.

~***~

Vallen had been trying to find Nanaki ever since she left the match. Funny, how he didn't think to check her room till now. He was so busy thinking about the upcoming war, that he forgot to knock. 

"Nanaki…" he started but stopped as she shrieked and covered herself with a towel. She had just finished her bath.

Vallen blushed and closed the door, leaving it open a crack so the door wouldn't muffle his apology. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even think to knock…."

"That's ok," said Nanaki, "in or out?"

"What?"

"In or out?"

Whatever Vallen was expecting, it wasn't this "Uhhh, in I guess."

"Ok," Nanaki walked behind the changing screen " What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" 

"Well, I wanted you to know that I sent word to my sister and Geki as to where I am." Vallen was trying to concentrate on anything but the fact that Nanaki was changing while he was in the same room.

"Well, that's good. I hope they haven't worried too much."

"That's not possible under the circumstances, they've probably sent out search parties and everything."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Could you toss me that dress on the bed?"

"What? Yeah sure" Went over and picked it up, blushing as he tossed it to the other side of the screen. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"On the Mystic Moon, of course. Where else?" Nanaki laughed "I started when I was ten. Right after I learned of my powers. I needed something to help me learn to concentrate so I'd be able to better control them. But, I really liked it, I liked the rhythm of it, the adrenaline rush, so, I kept at it. I think I'm pretty good for only doing it for 5 years." Nakaki stepped out behind the screen in a light dress. "Oh, that reminds me. I need to talk to Van. Do you know where he is?"

"Um, probably in either the throne room, or the conference room. I'll help you look if you'd like."

"Thanks, that'd be great." She said, " I'm still learning my way around the castle."

Nanaki followed Vallen through the winding halls, trying to remember where to turn to get back to her room. Finally they came to the throne room. The only person in the room was Van, he seemed deep in thought and didn't notice them at first.

"Yes, what do you want?" was what he said when he finally did notice.

Nanaki stepped forward, "Lord Van," she said "I was thinking, that since it seems likely we will soon be at war, and that most of the men of Fanelia will be part of the army. It would be a good idea to train the women incase a band of raiders, or something of the like, deemed it a good idea to attack when all of the able bodied men were away?"

"Women shouldn't fight." Said Van, "Their arms are too weak." He was still only half-paying attention.

Nanaki laughed, "I see you've already forgotten our little match. I didn't know you had such a bad memory that it only lasted for a few hours."

That snapped Van out of his daze, "I guess you're right," he said, "But we haven't trained women before. I shall have to bring it up in counsel."

"Thank you, Milord," said Nanaki, she inclined her head respectfully and left the room. 

Vallen looked at her strangely as they walked away.

"What?" she asked finally, annoyed.

"Nothing," said Vallen 

"No, really. What is it?"

"It's just that, for whatever reason you were going to see him for, would never had believed it would be that one. But the idea does make sense."

"Yes it does," said Nanaki, "That's why I brought it up."

~***~

Later that day, Van held a counsel for his advisers and other important political figures to discuss these tidings of war, and what was to be done. Among many other things, was Nanaki's idea. When he brought this concept up, most people were shocked, but through time and persuasion, they began to see the logic in it. Lord Wyldon was the last to consent, but when everyone else had agreed, he didn't see the point in arguing.

~***~

Vallen and Nanaki walked on in silence, with no real destination in mind. Their thoughts were on the upcoming war, and what it might mean.

After a while, Nanaki broke the silence "I think I'm going to participate in this war."

Vallen looked at her incredulously "What do you mean?" asked Vallen, "You can't do that! They don't allow women in the army!"

"Who says I'm going to join the army?" asked Nanaki. "There are other ways of participating, and I'm needed. Besides," she said shrugging "If they don't let me come, I'll just follow them anyway."

"But Nanaki," said Vallen, "you don't know what you're getting yourself into. You've never been in a war, have you? You don't know what it's like."

"And neither do most of the people who are getting into this. I'm sure they've heard stories, but hardly anyone knows what it's really like. I doubt even you do."

"Fine," said Vallen "I can see there's no point in arguing with you." He crossed his arms, "But I don't have to like it."

Nanaki looked at him, "I never said you did."

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A/N: I know it's short, but it's better then nothing. That just seemed to be a good place to end it. I apologise again for not getting this out sooner, _much _sooner, but, hey, what can you do? Please review. Constructive criticism is always welcome.


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